Catherine McMillan

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How the hell will I be able to face him tomorrow? I pushed my pillow into my face and I was beginning to suffocate. My phone scared as it rang and its tone echoed the whole room.

“What?”, I asked in an irritated tone.

“Sorry, did I disturb you?”, he asked.

“Ah, no.”, I said as I blushed.

“Great. Hey, about what you did earlier –“, he paused.

“What about it?”, I asked.

“Why did you do it?”, he asked back.

“Beats me.”, I replied.

“Beats me?”, he asked.

“It means I don’t have the fucking idea why I did the stupidest thing a human being would do to a classmate.”, I replied, and this time I was angry.

“Looks like someone is in a bad mood.”, he said.

“Isn’t it obvious?”, I asked.

“Do you want me to cheer you up?”, he asked.

“How on earth will you do that?”, I asked.

“Beats me.”, he replied. This time, I got really pissed off.

“Look Michael, if you don’t have anything better to say, - “, I got cut off when he started to sing. I listened to him. He had a sweet voice and it’s fit for an acoustic singer. His voice was similar to Owl City and he sang the song Enchanted. But the song was sung slowly and it sounded so nice. I heard a guitar in the background. I never expected him to do this. This was the first time a guy sang for me. I savored the moment and a few minutes later, he stopped singing.

“Catherine?”, he checked if I was still alive and good thing I was still breathing like a normal human being.

“Yeah? I’m still here.”, I replied.

“What do you think about what I just did?”, he asked.

“It was a good song. It’s sweet of you to have done it. I never knew you had a nice voice.”, I replied.

“I never sang for anyone before.”, he said.

“Really? Why? “

“I don’t know. I’m usually a guy who just fucks hot babes and gets drunk every weekend. I never even had a long and steady relationship.”, he replied. Why is he telling me this? I wondered.

“Why are you telling me this?”, I asked out of curiosity.

“I don’t know. I think I just felt like telling you.”

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“For telling me what you just said a while ago.”, I answered.

“It’s okay. I feel like we’re becoming close.”, he said. Honestly, I felt the same way too.

“I also think so.”, I replied.

“Really?”, he asked. He sounded happy.

“Yeah. I mean, if it weren’t for this project, we would never have become this close.”, I stated.

“You have a point. Well, I want to know more about you.”, he said.

“Do you want me to pass a resume about myself?”, I asked. I heard him laugh and said,

“I’d accept it with open arms!”, he replied.

“Shut up. I’m not stupid to do that Michael.”

“Well, Catherine. Are you hiring anyone right now?”, he asked.

“Why?”, I curiously asked.

“Because I will pass my application letter and resume to you right now.”, he replied.  Wait, was that a pick up line?

“Ha ha Michael. Real funny pun ya got there.”

“Catherine, I’m serious.”, he said. I was speechless.

“Catherine?”, he asked.

“Oh yeah. Hey Michael? I needed to do something. Good night! See you tomorrow!”, I told him and I hung up. Shit! Was he really serious about what he said?

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Michael Collins

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‘Nice going Michael’, I said to myself. I placed my guitar back in its case and laid down on my bed. This weird feeling I’ve been feeling for Catherine only kept growing. I feel nervous every time I see her, my heart beats fast when we’re together, I feel so different when I think about her. What’s even more unusual is the fact that I don’t want to fuck her. She’s hot, I admit it. But I don’t want to do it to her. It just doesn’t feel right. It’s like I respect her womanhood. Her face appears when I think about something else. It’s like I unconsciously kept thinking about her. My cellphone vibrated and I took it. I opened it and I was half expecting that she texted me. Then I saw it was Mary, one of the bitches I fucked with.

“Hey babe. Let’s meet up.”. I deleted the message and closed my cellphone. Later, it rang and I picked it up.

“Hey babe. Not up for tonight?”, Mary asked.

“Shut the fuck up and leave me alone you bitch.”, I replied. I heard a shriek and she said,

“Fuck you! I’ll never talk to you again!”

“Whatever.”, I replied and she hung up. I didn’t feel like being in my usual self. It’s really complicated. The next day came and I was on my way to school. I arrived and parked my car. Later I was walking along the corridor when I saw Stacy flirting with Dylan. I hid and took a video. Dylan was smiling at Stacy, who smiled back at him. They we’re startled when Catherine arrived. I stopped recording and saved the file on my memory card.

“Dude? Why are you hiding like you’re spying on someone?”, Mark asked. I stood up properly and faced him.

“Shut up. Let’s go.”, I walked away and Mark gave me a confused face. I didn’t see Catherine the whole morning but I bet Dylan is happy to be with her. He should just lock himself inside the library like he used to and leave Catherine alone. She won’t like him. He’s a nerd for crying out loud! Lunch break finally came and I went to the cafeteria with my friends. We sat at the populars’ table and a girl bought lunch for me.

“Here babe.”, she said.

“I’m not hungry. Shut up and don’t call me babe. It’s disgusting and we’re not even in a relationship. Leave me alone.”, I said. She gasped, took the lunch she brought for me, rolled her eyes at me, and walked away.

“Dude, are you okay?”, Steven asked.

“What do you mean? Of course I’m okay!”, I replied.

“You’re not in a good mood Michael.”, Mark said. I looked at the other side of the cafeteria and saw Catherine with Dylan and Stacy.

“I see.”, Mark said in a concluding tone.

“What is it dude?”, Steven asked.

“Girl with geek and bitch at twelve o’clock Steven.”, Mark said. Steven searched and saw what Mark wanted him to see.

“Ohh. Right. Michael, dude, is that what your radar has directed you to?”, Steven asked.

“Huh?”, I asked. Mark lightly punched my chest; to where my heart was.

“This is your radar dude and that girl over there? That’s been catching your attention lately. You’re not your usual self because of her. Trust me, it’s so obvious.”, Mark said.

“Whatever.”, I replied in defeat. Of course I was too obvious. Even I can tell myself that I’m stupidly obvious.

“Why don’t you just go and ask her out? Have a one night stand?”, Steven asked.

“I can’t. Just not right now and  I also can’t bring myself to do it to her. It’s different dude. It feels so weird.”, I replied.

“Yeah whatever. That’s what you feel when you’re in love.”, Mark said. The three of us went silent. Then minutes later, Steven talked.

“Michael, are you falling in love with Catherine McMillan?”

“Wait, what?”, I asked.

“Michael Collins had fallen in love with Catherine McMillan. This is awesome!”, Mark said.

“Shut the fuck up guys! It’s not funny.”, I said. Steven stood up and went to get some soda.

“Hey Mark.”

“What is it dude?”, he asked.

“Have I really fallen for her?”

“Dude, you’ve been eyeing on her since she transferred here. Then you told me a few months ago  that every time you see her, you get excited and want to badly talk to her. You even said she’s interesting that’s why you started eyeing her. I warned you about this Michael.”, Mark replied. Seriously, being lectured by a friend is the last thing I want to experience.

“Shit. Is it true?”, I asked.

“Shut up Michael.”, he replied.

“Fine. I admit it. I’ve actually fallen in love with Catherine but I never realized this until recently. What am I supposed to do now?”, I asked.

“Confirm how she feels about you first. But you should take things slow. Hang out always, talk often; just getting to know her better then she’ll eventually blurt her feelings in no time.”, he replied. I scratched my head and looked over at the table where Catherine was sitting.

“Easier said than done.”

“Don’t worry dude. Relax. Just do what you always do.”

“Okay.”, I replied. Honestly, I didn’t know what to do.

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Dylan Wilson

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“It’s been a while since we hang out.”

“Yeah. We’ve been really busy with our project on Geology.”, Catherine replied.

“Are you done with the project? We barely have two weeks left.”, I asked.

“We’re almost done. We’re really serious about the project. I always go to his house after class so that we could work on the project.”, she replied.

“Really? That’s nice.”, I replied. I can’t think of anything to say. I took a bite of my burger and sipped on my soda. I don’t know how I feel right now. I’m somehow irritated and happy at the same time.

“Are you okay?”, she asked.

“Yeah.”, I plainly replied. We went silent for a minute and she started talking again.

“Look, what the hell is your problem? You’ve been acting strange lately. You hardly ever talk to me like during English and Math. You don’t even look at me properly. Did I do something to hurt you? Well, I’m sorry okay? You know what? Just... oh forget it.”, she took her tray and walked away. I didn’t bother to look and Stacy approached me.

“What happened back there Dylan?”, she asked. I didn’t answer her. Instead I stood up and took my tray and walked away. I heard Stacy’s voice echoing as I got further and went inside the library. I sat at my usual seat and continued to eat my meal. What is wrong with her? She didn’t need to get all pissed off like that. Honestly, I didn’t feel like talking to her since she’s giving her attention to Michael. Stupid player Michael Collins. Since they started hanging out, they’ve been really close. He stole Catherine from me and Stacy. Isn’t he already contented with the student body as his friends? Well, except for me since I don’t consider him as my friend. But I went silent for how many minutes then Catherine’s face appeared in my thoughts. Now that we’re in a conflict, how am I going to apologize to her? I feel bad. I never want for me and Catherine to fight again but she’s really getting on my nerves; I just can’t hold it in anymore. I didn’t want to yell at her and embarrass her in front of many people so I chose to not talk to her. God, when will things be smooth again for me and Catherine? How am I supposed to face her now? I can’t even answer my own question.